How much time do you really have to train? Matt Dixon helps lay the groundwork for successful training.

by Matt Dixon, IRONMAN U Master Coach

Most triathletes are used to the grind of training. In the life of a triathlete it is not uncommon to see early morning swims, quick showers, and downing a quick energy bar following a morning brick workout. A second run is often squeezed in before dinner. The puzzle of training success, while managing your "big" life, requires planning and commitment.

Stop and ask any triathlete what their overall goal in training is—they'll tell you it's to get fitter, stronger, or achieve some outcome-related goal. But while improved fitness, body composition, and power outputs are all great, the mission of training for all triathletes should instead be this simple thing:

To arrive at races ready to perform.

With this in mind, the more specific training athletes were able to successfully put in, the more prepared we will be. Basically, the mission of training should be to:

This is successful training. More is only better within context—that the adaptations that you experience are positive, facilitate improvements in performance, and deliver you to races with enough energy and freshness to yield your absolute best performance on the day.

The busy athlete's key ingredients

The life challenges of busy athletes—those who aren't professionals or pseudo-pros with part-time or flexible jobs—require what I like to call an "evolved" approach to training. This means that a greater degree of flexibility is required in one's training program. Underlying all this are four key ingredients in the recipe for great performance.

Consistency: The busy athlete's approach must be sustainable, not just over a few weeks or months, but an extended period of time. This is why I consistently talk about "integration over domination." While you live a fast-track life, the sport and your success in it simply cannot be rushed. It's a journey best served by a training approach that provides layers of consistent training, day after day, week after week, month after month.

Obedience: Having a plan that fits your life is step one. Next is actually following the program! Many athletes fail to execute the plan as intended, and this is where they end up in trouble.

Supporting habits: The gateway to consistency begins with the plan itself and proper execution (above), but is supported by sleep, recovery, fueling, nutrition, and hydration. These areas offset the stressors of training and life and if they are ignored, can quickly become stressors themselves.

Appreciating the challenge: As a busy triathlete, you will likely have a training program that—as many will tell you—is compromised. A stronger need to make compromises and prioritize demands that you be highly focused in the key sessions that present the best performance yield for you. It requires that you buy into a mindset of optimization over accumulation. You may be best served with less training, so let's make sure it is highly specific and laser-focused with intent. I view this as the busy athletes' opportunity: creating performance with fierce intensity and precision, and thus saving time for the other aspects of life.

To be successful you must be willing to carve a path that centers around optimizing your situation—not chasing something that is unsustainable. This mindset begins with redefining one of the most common questions I receive for IRONMAN and IRONMAN 70.3 athletes:

How many hours a week do I need to train to be ready?

This question is natural as most are already juggling a lot, and suddenly have lofty goals added to the top of the pile. I see many coaches asking athletes to find time for 14, 16, 18, even 20-plus hours of weekly training, suggesting that the accumulation of hours is a non-negotiable part of proper preparation. "You’ve gotta put in the work!" is an all too common mantra.

You do, but to what end? If the goal is to be a successful professional, then I would agree, but most age-group athletes wish to improve while succeeding in other life areas. I call this performance in context. Why would I challenge them to find hours that are not there? This sets athletes up for failure. Instead, I like to tackle the challenge with a different lens:

How many hours do you truly have available?

This question leads to something tangible we can actually work with. Hoping to have a clear picture of available training hours, plus the time required for being with friends and family, as well as personal downtime, we can begin to map out a workable plan.

The mission now becomes maximizing the available training hours. If an athlete has 25 hours available for weekly training, then the program will likely look very different than the athlete who only has 10 hours. If you are busy, aka a 10-hour triathlete, then your challenge is to maximize those 10 hours, not to chase 16 hours. I will be diving into how to find your own available hours in upcoming posts

Signs of success

What happens when we get this right? Of course, triathlon results improve and goals can be achieved, but I think this is only part of the success criteria for the 10-Hour Triathlete. I prefer to look bigger than this, with a lens of human performance in conjunction with sporting performance.

If we're able to get the recipe right, then you should feel the benefits of integrated training into life. This is where the balance of goal-driven and specific training help improve your health profile, energy you are able to bring and sustain to work, and even have plenty leftover for family and other relationships. It sounds utopian, but it is achievable, and it requires a commitment to carving a different path that is full of pragmatism. Far from limiting, it is liberating.

In our dream situation, triathlon plays its role in a big life. It is something that is important for you and something personal to own. It creates a release and escape from the many demands we navigate, but is in harmony with life. Successful integration means a balanced, wholesome, improved you. In fact, far from hacking a way to find time to train effectively, the sport and training pivots to become an essential tool in your overall performance puzzle.

Matt Dixon is founder of purplepatch fitness and an IRONMANU Master Coach. Stay tuned for his forthcoming book, The Fast Track Triathlete, which will explore these concepts in more detail. Continue free education via the purplepatch newsletter, available on their website.